What it is: a blog, a forum , a little spring of knowledge, a resting place, a comfortable spot, a shelter.
Purpose: dissemination of art, poetry, literature, for life, for healing, for a balanced wellness, an approaching of the truth or truths of existence.

Sunday, January 30, 2005

I picked up the book, which I found in the children's geography section at a library a couple of counties away, and read another couple of chapters near the book's end. Thus I found the words to the Wearing of the Green, a street ballad sung since 1798, the year that the United Irishmen, led by Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763-1798), rose up against the English in many parts of Ireland, and were soon defeated. Anyway, here are the words:

O Paddy dear, and did you hear the news that's going round,
The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground;
And Saint Patrick's day no more we'll keep, his color can't be seen,
For there's a bloody law against the wearin' of the green.
I met with Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand,
And he said , "How's poor ould Ireland, and how does she stand?"
"She's the most distressful country that ever you have seen,
They're hanging men and women there for wearin' of the green."

Then since the color we must wear is England's cruel red;
Sure Ireland's sons will ne'er forget the blood that they have shed;
You may take the shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod,
But 'twill take root and flourish still, tho' underfoot 'tis trod.
When the law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they grow,
And when the leaves in summertime their verdure dare not show,
Then I will change the colour I wear in my corbeen,
But till that day, plase God, I'll stick to the wearin' of the green.

But if at last our color should be torn from Irelands' heart,
Her sons with shame and sorrow from the dear ould souil will part;
I've hear whisper of a country that lies far beyand the say,
Where rich and poor stand equal in the light of freedom's day.
O Erin must we leave you, driven by the tyrant's hand,
Must we ask a mother's welcome from a strange but happier land?
Where the cruel cross of England's thraldom never shall be seen,
And where, thank God, we'll live and die, still wearin' of the green.

[The Republic of Ireland, 1984, p.91]

There seems to be some disagreement as to who has claim to the song or musical lyrics. M. Franks has it thus-- Dion Boucicault(1820-1890) "himself fled the country, coming to America as the words of his poem itself echo prophetic." UCLA's digital library has the song belonging to composer and lyricist, Chauncey Olcott, 1858-1932. Yet the musical historians of Archeophone Records backs up the claim that the song predates both Boucicault and Olcott.

You are the Gender Abolitionist type of feminist. This means that you
feel the best way to destroy patriarchal oppression is to rid ourselves
of misguided gender roles, and instead live in a society that does not
make such marked assumptions about gender differences. The Gender
Abolitionist is culturally radical, but rather conservative when it
comes to sexual liberation and politics. You have a strong sense of
human rights for all. In fact, you are actually a very moral person.
You don't see people in terms of gender and are thus very philosophical
in order to perceive the world in such a manner. You think people
shouldn't identify others in terms of gender. When most people see a
person, the first thing they think is "That person is a woman" or "That
person is a man", but they do NOT think "That person is a
short-fingernail". Most make someone's gender their IDENTITY, but
fingernail length would never be considered part of their identity. A
gender abolitionist would claim gender should be like fingernail
length--it shouldn't be part of someone's identity. By making gender a
part of identity, difference is emphasized and oppression is often
justified. Thus, gender shouldn't be regarded to such a large extent by
society. You are mostly concerned with seeing women become fully
equalized with men by eliminating gender roles, as these roles oppress
women.